With three weeks remaining in the 2010 congressional campaign, Democrats are scouring the polls for a dramatic turnaround in their fortunes. Republicans are anxious some fiasco will spoil their ascension to majority status.

Republicans are comfortably headed to winning the majority in the House of Representatives; a turnaround would require a dramatic extreme. The Senate majority is much more in doubt: Republicans need to overturn ten seats to gain the majority, seven Democratic seats are headed to likely Republican takeovers, three more a tied and another is within Republican reach. The odds still favor Democrats retaining the Senate, but their hold is becoming more tenuous.

Democrats sought to side with economically beleaguered homeowners last week as President Obama vetoed legislation requiring states to recognize notarizations performed in other states, arguing that the bill could make forecloses easier. The veto came as questions arose about whether lenders authorized foreclosures without reviewing documents to determine that the seizures were appropriate. The issue is mostly symbolic and is no silver bullet that will provide the reversal Democrats pine for.

Instead, media consumers in nearly 70 districts and 12 states are being treated to what Democrats hope is their firewall: barrages of negative advertising attempting to disqualify Republican challengers. Republicans respond by discrediting Democrats, reminding voters that they are incumbents that supported President Obama’s initiatives.

Republicans are not giddily awaiting victory, but instead are expanding the number of races they are contesting, with the help of independent spending groups — groups Democrats say are funded with foreign money.

President Obama’s job approval has edged up to 46 percent. Congressional Republicans rate about 25 percent job approval. Perhaps the most significant danger to Republicans is not taking the election for granted, but rather believing — as did Democrats in 2008 — that their victory is a mandate.